Businesses looking for a comprehensive digital backend have many options. Two that often make the shortlist are the Oracle Fusion Cloud Application Suite and SAP Business Suite.
Both the Oracle Fusion Cloud and SAP Business Suite are integrated, cloud-based solutions that provide a complete set of applications for running all aspects of a business. Both centralize business data in a unified model and integrate artificial intelligence for added insight. Both come with system-wide automation for improved efficiency.
By using a cloud model, both provide continuous software updates automatically, scale easily, and come with industry-standard security baked in by default. Each solution is also built for extensibility, allowing a business to connect third-party applications and cloud services.
Despite these similarities, there are some key differences between the Oracle Fusion Cloud and SAP Business Suite that can help your organization decide which is right for you.
The Oracle Fusion Cloud Application Suite is designed for upper mid-tier and large enterprises with a strong process foundation and both the internal resources and the desire to customize the solution for these existing processes.
Oracle is complex and robust, with a blank canvas approach that gives a large enterprise plenty of scope for building out the solution for the bespoke needs of the business.
The Oracle Fusion Cloud is particularly focused on global finance and supply chain functionality, making it a strong candidate for large enterprises primarily focused on global financial management or supply chain logistics.
SAP Business Suite also comes with a strong set of global finance and supply chain functionality, but it is geared more toward mid-market businesses that are large enough to need enterprise-grade capabilities but would rather lean on industry-standard processes over bespoke workflows.
Because mid-market and fast-growing businesses are the primary target for the solution, SAP Business Suite focuses by default on standardized best practices that avoid heavy customization. This helps mid-market firms roll out the solution faster and adopt best practices instead of reinventing the wheel as they grow.
SAP Business Suite is particularly strong for harmonizing global subsidiaries, and it is widely used by manufacturers, wholesale distributors, life sciences, consumer products, and professional services organizations.
For most businesses, even large organizations, SAP Business Suite is the better choice.
Differentiation and competitive advantage primarily come from the products, services, and market orientation of a business, not how it handles accounting or other standard processes that are common to an organization’s industry. So instead of leaning on custom workflows, most businesses are better served by running a solution that comes with industry best practices baked in by default.
By adopting industry-standard processes for backend operations, a business can scale faster and focus more on what actually makes the company unique. This favors SAP Business Suite.
At the same time as it helps a business standardize processes and get up to speed quickly, the SAP Business Suite also provides a continuous path for growth and heightened levels of control and customization where required. Businesses can easily add functionality as they expand, and there’s a logical growth path for organizations that might someday want deeper customization or private cloud deployment.
SAP and a large network of implementation partners have developed a robust ecosystem of industry solutions, add-ons, and turnkey solutions over decades of supporting a wide range of businesses. Most organizations will find that they have what they need right out of the box, and these add-ons and industry solutions easily fill the gap when it doesn’t.
The extensibility and seamless integration that comes from the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), a marketplace for integration and third-party add-on modules, also ensures that the SAP Business Suite serves as the backbone for a business without needless complexity or custom code. The combination of the SAP Business Suite and the BTP lowers the pain of systems rollout and helps a business ensure that it always has what it needs for optimal operations, both today and as the business evolves.
SAP Business Suite is particularly strong when it comes to global compliance and localization, too. With more than 50 different country versions, SAP Business Suite deftly handles different tax regimes, statutory reporting, and country-specific compliance requirements. It localizes far more easily than most competing solutions, and is ideal for businesses with subsidiaries in multiple countries.
We’ve helped businesses choose and correctly implement more than 300 ERP installations over the past 20 years. During that time, we’ve learned what works and what doesn’t.
Leverage our deep experience with ERP and efficient business processes by talking with one of our knowledgeable consultants. You can get answers and advice to your specific questions by calling us at (801) 642-0123 or writing info@nbs-us.com. Contact us here.